Unless you’ve been living under a manhole cover for the past year, you know about the spectacular success of singer/pianist Norah Jones. Come Away With Me , her 2002 debut album, won eight GRAMMY ® awards and has sold more than nine mil - lion copies—an astonishing feat for any new artist, let alone “With a really popular cover one whose stylistic hallmark is quiet understatement. song, you want to respect the person who did it, or the person Jones’ success proves that the world still hungers for who wrote it. I really do respect strong, simple songs, performed with honesty and taste. these songs, otherwise I wouldn’t sing them!” Norah spoke to us from a cavernous rehearsal hall in Florida, where she and her band were preparing to embark on their sum - mer tour. She talked candidly about her music and gave us an update on her most important project: the breathlessly awaited fol - Norlowa-up to Come Awh ay With Me. COME AWAY WITH Jones You’ve spoken often about the singers you admire. But which piano play - ers are closest to your heart? Ahmad Jamal and Oscar Peterson are two of my favorite jazz people. They swing in very different ways. Like, Oscar Peterson is just so swingin’! That sounds corny—“swingin’”— but he really does swing so hard. And Jamal always had these cool arrangements. But Bill Evans is probably my very favorite jazz player— he’s so unique, and his touch is so lyrical and beautiful. I was a big Bill Evans fan all through high school. What else were you listening to then? I got into Willie Nelson and listened to the album Red Headed Stranger over and over. That’s one of my favorite albums ever. I think it’s his sister, Bobbie Nelson, playing piano on it. I love country piano like that, like Bobbie Nelson and Floyd 22 yama ha all access summer ’03 23 Cramer. Also, one of my favorite piano players ever is ray Charles. With the more obscure songs, it’s easier to just do them however pretty warm sounding, but kind of funky too, which is nice. And then He might be my favorite overall, actually, because he kind of embod - they work, and however they feel natural. But with a really popular I’ve got this Yamaha grand for the new tour. I can’t believe I get to ies everything. The same with his singing. He can sing anything— song, you don’t want to change it too much—you want to respect tour with this piano! I think I’m also getting a Yamaha grand for he’s country, he’s bluesy, he’s just bad, you know? the person who did it, or the person who wrote it. And I hope I do myself next year. that. I really do respect these songs, otherwise I wouldn’t sing them! When your album came out, some people might have been So hopefully people feel like I’m not screwing them up. I’ve found Tell us about your band. “Usually the biggest problem is getting startled by your treatment of a country song like “Cold Cold that if I just feel it, and it feels good, then we’re playing it in the most I met Adam Levy, who’s an amazing guitar player, the first night I Heart” by Hank Williams. But it sounds like that influence honest way we can. Hopefully people hear it that way too. the piano to sound warm. moved to New York. We were doing jazz gigs, and I needed a bass goes way back for you. When you amplify a piano in a theater or player, so he gave me Lee Alexander’s number. I sort of went Oh, yeah. Well, I’m from Texas, and my mom’s family is from through this whole transition with Lee, actually, where we started Oklahoma, and my grandfather’s favorite album was that Willie an auditorium, it’s hard to make it sound playing with Jesse Harris, and we started writing songs together. Nelson record. My mom owns every ray Charles album ever made, like an acoustic instrument.” Lee’s become this great songwriter—I’m really proud of him. He’s up to like 1980. Oh, and I love Nina Simone’s piano playing too. like my partner, pretty much. Through Adam and Lee I met Andy Borger, who’s a beautiful drummer. And kevin Breit is a guitar play - Ray Charles and Nina Simone are better known as popular er I’ve listened to for a long time—he played on my last record, and singers than as pianists. Do you ever feel like your own now he’s also on the road with us. He’s the glue, and he basically singing gets so much attention that the piano playing takes a can play anything with a tuning peg. Then Daru Oda sings backup. back seat? She was tour-managing us last year, but she sings so great that now No, because I feel like I’m not nearly so good as a piano player that she’s joined the band. it needs to take the front seat. I’m nowhere near as great a singer as Having played and recorded so much in the last year and a they are, either, but I’m definitely nowhere near the level of piano half, what have you learned about getting good piano sounds With all the changes in your life over the last two years, has player that they are. I do think I accompany myself well, and I enjoy in concert? anything changed in the way you think about music? the little thing I’ve grown into. I think it’s my own style–influenced, of I don’t really know much about engineering, but I do know when it I think I’m the same musician I was before all this happened. If any - course, by a lot of other people. I’m really messy, and sometimes I doesn’t sound right. usually the biggest problem is getting the piano thing, the way it’s changed how I think about music is that I feel a lit - hit wrong notes, but I’m happy with what I do. I’m definitely not a to sound warm. When you amplify a piano in a theater or an audito - tle more limited about what I can do in shows right now. But as soon piano player’s piano player, though! rium, it’s hard to make it sound like an acoustic instrument. But as the next album comes out, and we have more material, I think I’ll they’ve done a really good job for this tour. We’re traveling with our feel a lot less that way. My audience has already been pretty recep - You have a background in jazz improvisation. When you’re own piano for the first time, so the sound will be the same every tive to new material in the past, so I don’t really feel that limited. But playing live, how do you balance between improvising and night. And in the studio, I’ve got a great engineer, Jay Newland, who it’s kind of scary sometimes, all these changes. playing the songs audiences expect to hear? knows what I like. It’s just a matter of making the piano sound like It’s really hard, actually. My whole band comes from that school of what it is. When will we hear the next record? playing jazz gigs, playing different stuff every night. And it’s kind of It’s about one-half recorded. It’s probably coming out in February weird having to play the same stuff every show, especially when you What’s your ideal piano? 2004. It’s pretty cool so far. Again, it’s a mix of originals and covers. get into singles, which you really do have to play every night even I like warm pianos more than bright-sounding ones. I find bright ones It’s still a band sort of record. But we’re not even jazz anymore— though you’re sick of them. But it’s okay—we always throw in some harder to play—I don’t want to touch them, because they’re so everything has a backbeat, and we sound like a ’70s soft-rock band new stuff for ourselves. Some new songs we wrote, and some cover harsh-sounding. I like dark, warm pianos that sound good! As far as or something! [Laughs.] Okay, I don’t want to be labeled as that, but tunes. We’re on the lookout for more cover songs, actually, because action, I don’t like it too loose, but I don’t like it too hard—pretty I really do like this record a lot! we’ve exhausted the ones we used all last year! They’ll always be much in the middle. [Laughs.] This sounds like a dirty conversation! great songs, and we still love them, but you’ve just got to have something different. What stylistic changes do you make as a pianist when you’re You’re touring with a Yamaha piano. What’s special about playing with a group versus playing solo? Yamahas? You really have a gift for making familiar songs sound new Man, my solo chops have gone downhill, because I haven’t done it Yamahas are great. They’re so reliable. I’ve played Yamaha pianos and surprising. What’s your philosophy of interpreting other in so long! But I used to play solo at a restaurant every week—that’s my whole life.